Shipping container



B. C. COKT, JR

SHIPPING CONTAINER NomZZ, @951 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed April 6, 1949 m Mm m 51/? 701V 6. C017, JP.

6' TTORNE K Nov. 27, 1951 B. c. con-r, JR 5 SHIPPING CONTAINER FiledApril 6, 1949 v 2 smzms snam 2 IN V EN TOR. BUR 7'0N C. C01 7; J2,

:4 T'TOENE X Patented Nov. 27, 1951 SHIPPING CONTAINER Burton 0. Coit,Jr., Washington, Pa., assignor to Tri-State Engineering Company,Washington, Pa. a corporation of Pennsylvania Application April 6, 1949,Serial No. 85,926

My invention relates to containers of the crate type that areparticularly suitable for the shipment of small parcels a number ofwhich can be placed within the container for shipment after which thecontainer may be folded or collapsed for storing or for return to afactory or shipping point for reuse.

The container is suitable also for use in con junction with pallets ofthe load-supporting type that are transferable from place to place, thepallet deck constituting the bottom wall of the container or crate. 1

One object of my invention is to provide a container having a hinged lidor lid panels that, when closed, will not extend above the upper edgesof the side walls and which is nevertheless hinged in such manner thatthe lid or lid panels can be freely swung far enough to open position,over the upper edge of each of the side walls, that it will remain in anopen position, the advantage of having the lid disposed below the upperplane of the crate walls being that the crates or containers can readilybe stacked upon one another.

Another object of my invention is to provide a container of thecharacter referred to, made of relatively light material which issomewhat flexible but wherein means are provided for retaining the lidor the lid panels in such tightly closed position that the lids and theupper edges of the side walls of the container cannot be sprung apart topermit theft of'small articles from the container when the container isclosed and fastened for shipment or storage.

In Y the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of thecontainer, showing the manner in which it may be connected to a palletdeck; Fig. 2 is an end view thereof; Fig. 3 is a plan view; Fig. 4 showsa hinge joint for one of the lid panels of Fig. 3, in closed position,and Fig. 5 shows the position occupied by a lid panel and the hingeelements when the lid panel is swung to open position.

The container or crate is here shown as mounted upon a pallet similar tothat shown in my application Ser. No. 726,687, filed February 5, 1947(Patent 2,471,095). The pallet has a deck of lattice or mesh-like formto certain longitudinal wires to which the lower strand of the containerside wall is hingedly connected by a helical wire 7 that embraces thelower wire of the side wall and one of the longitudinal deck wires, ateach edge of the deck. A mesh-like bottom sheet can, of course, be usedinstead of a pallet deck as the bottom wall of the container. The deckmay have the usual legs 8 and 9 and floor bars or base bars I!) wherebythe containers can be readily transported and stacked upon one anotherby lifting forks that are entered between the legs 8 and 9.

hinge elements l6-l'| being rotated or screwed.

into position to lock a vertical wire [4 to a vertical wire l2 at saiddiagonal corners. vAt, the

other diagonal corners, hooks l8 are welded to adjacent wires l4l5 andhave hooked engagement with adjacent wires l3 to detachably connect thepanels together where they are not hinged. Hook-like loops i9 aresimilarly employed at diagonally-opposite upper corners of thecontainer, they being of suflicient width to prevent relativeverticalshifting of the side and end walls when the crate is closed. Theprovision of the hinge joints at I6Il permits of folding the verticalwalls upon one another, when the: hooks I8I9 and 20 are disengaged fromthe sides and deck, and the hinges at 7 permit folding of the cratewalls upon the deck. It is ,not an essential feature of the presentinvention however, that the vertical walls be foldable upon one anotheror hingedly connected to the deck or bottom wall.

The lid is here shown .as formed of panels 2| and 22. The panel 2| isformed of wires 23 welded to .wires 24, .and the panel 22 is formed of,wires 25 welded to wires 26. Each of the lid panels 2l--22 is hingedlyconnected to the adjacent vertical wall by a pair of helical wires 21and 28. The pitch of the wire 21 is such that it can have interlaced orscrew-threaded engagement with the various vertical wires l2, the wire21 serving as a hinge element having pivotal movement with respect tothe wires 12 and also being slidable on such wires. The helical wire 28serves as another hinge element having its turns interlaced orintermeshed with the turns of the wire 21 and also interlaced with theadjacent wires 23 or 25, as the case may be, of the lid panel.

When the lid panels are closed, ears or loops 30 that are welded to theadjacent vertical walls will project upwardly through the mesh of thepanel 2| and the panel 22 to receive a locking rod or a pad lock,thereby vertically supporting that edge of the panel and alsopreventingthe lid from being sprung upwardly such distance as willpermit the theft of small articles from the container.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, wires 3| and 32 are 3 welded to the rods 26of the panel 22 and wires 33 and 34 are welded to the upper and lowersides of the wires l24 of the panel 2 I. Loops 35 are welded to thepanel 22, between the wires 3l32 and extend between the Wires 3334 whenthe lids are closed. Padlocks can then be placed in these loops toprevent unauthorized opening of the lid. However, pad looks through theloops 30 will suffice to lock the lid panels closed and locks throughloops 35 will ordinarily not be required.

The wires 3I32 and 33-34 also serve as reinforcement for the normallyfree edges of the lid panels 2 [-22, to thereby reduce danger ofspringing them to effect unauthorized openingwhen no' the pallet canextend somewhat between the adjacent side walls, while their curved-inportions at 36 can rest upon the adjacent end walls of the container,the alignment of the containers and pallets upon one another being thusfacilitated, and danger of shifting of stacked pallets on one anotherbeing thereby reduced.

The arrangement requires a special hinge structure, in order that whenthe hinge panels are swung to their open positions, they will remainopen as will be seen in Fig. 5. This arrangement is possible because ofthe double hinge arrangement at 2l-28 and the slidability of the coil 21on the vertical wire I2. The 2-coil arrangement also reduces danger offouling hinges.

It will be understood that a single lid panel can be employed, havingthe double link or hinge construction to facilitate the insetting of itinto the upper part of the container. The sides and ends{ and the deckor bottom wall may suitably be of 2-inch by 2-inch mesh N0. 2 gaugewire, while the lid panels may be of No. 5 gauge wire.

I claim as my invention: v

1. A crate having vertical walls of lattice like or binding of thepanels, a lid member therefor of lattice form, a

V able vertically thereon, a second spiral hinge ele 4 ment havinginterlocking pivotal connection with the first-named spiral member andwith the adjacent edge'of thelid member.

2. A crate having vertical side walls, one of which is provided withvertically-extending rods, a'hinge element vertically slidable on saidrods at :points near the upper ends thereof, means limiting verticalmovements of the said element, a lid member having pivotal connection atone edge with the hinge element and movable into and out of a planebelow the uppermost edges of the vertical walls, and means forreleasably fastening the free edgeof the lid member to the adjacent sidewalls of the crate, at a plane below the uppermost edges of the sideWalls. 3. A crate having vertical side walls, vertical rods on twoopposite side walls, a pair of lid members whose inner edges have meansthereon for detachably connecting them together, hinge elementspivotally connected to the outer edges of the lid members andrespectively slidable on the said' vertical 'rods for limited distances,the lid members being movable into and out of a plane below theuppermost edges of the vertical walls, means at one of the othersidewalls of the crate for, releasably fastening one of the'lid membersthereto ,at a point adjacent to the free edge of the said memberandbelowthe uppermost edge of this third side wall; and means for inlike manner fastening the other lid member to the fourth side wall ofthe crate. I I

- BURTON C. COIT, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references 'areof record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

